Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show,” said Monday that when Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam apologized Friday for appearing in a racist photo in his old medical school yearbook, it made sense that he did not identify which of the two people ― a man in blackface or a person in Ku Klux Klan robes ― he was.
“I don’t blame him,” said Noah, who grew up under apartheid in South Africa, “because neither option is good. Yeah, it’s like you’re taking a trip and the only choices are the Titanic and Spirit Airlines.”
But when Northam backtracked the next day, saying that he was not in the photo, Noah questioned his explanation.
“This guy is a legend,” Noah said, “I’m sorry, his new defense is that he knows he didn’t do this blackface because he clearly remembers doing a different blackface.”
Noah added: “Who would defend themselves by admitting to a different crime? ‘Your Honor, I couldn’t be the Boston Strangler because I’m the Philadelphia Strangler.’”
There is one circumstance, though, in which Noah could have seen the photo in a positive light.
“You know what the real shame is,” he said. “If these weren’t costumes and it was a black guy and a Klan member having a drink together, this would be a huge step forward. Racial harmony, we did it, folks. But because it’s costumes, it’s extremely offensive.”
Check out the video below.
